Gresham seeks art grant applications by June 15

The city of Gresham is inviting local arts organizations to apply for more than $12,500 in grants as part of the 2011/12 cycle of Gresham's Arts and Cultural Assistance Grant Program. The grant program is intended to provide support for Gresham-based arts and culture activities.

The maximum amount granted to any one organization is $3,752.

Grants are available to nonprofit organizations located within Gresham city limits or to Gresham residents who are partnering with a nonprofit organization. Funding priority, established by the Gresham City Council, will be given to projects with a focus on:

• Creative people and organizations that strengthen and support arts, heritage and humanities organizations, as well as individual artists, performances and historians.

• Heritage and history, in the telling and building upon of stories about Gresham.

• Participation in the arts, heritage and humanities that develop audiences to sustain culture and community building, as well as economic development.

Last year's six awarded grants funded Music Mondays through the Center for the Arts Foundation, the Historic Downtown Gresham Business Association's Third Thursday events, the Rockwood Business Coalition and Police Activities League's Multicultural Holiday Celebration, Mt. Hood Community College's Culture Shapers Art Project, the Gresham Sister City Association's sister city student exchange program and the Center for the Arts Foundation's Fine Tuned Tulle presentation.

For a complete set of rules and an application packet, visit GreshamOregon.gov. Applications are due at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 15.